In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Tesla plans on building a brand new electric vehicle (EV) for the mass market sometime in mid-2025. The news was confirmed by four people who spoke to the outlet, with two of them saying that it will be a compact crossover.
It’s not the first time Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, have mulled over making a new sub US$25,000 (~RM118,345) EV and expanding its currently limited portfolio. Musk himself had expressed interest in the idea as far back as 2020 but shelved it then. Now it seems that he’s reviving the plan, and with good reason.
In the final quarter of 2023, BYD, the China-based EV manufacturer, overtook the Tesla as the world’s top EV maker by it being able to produce cheap, inexpensive vehicles. For example, the BYD Dolphin retails from RM99,990 before the extra fees come into play. By comparison, the cheapest Tesla available in Malaysia, the Model Y, starts at RM199,000.
Sadly, there’s not a whole lot of information surrounding the Tesla Redwood, and the company has yet to provide an official comment about the upcoming and relatively more affordable EV. Musk himself has said that he plans on building not one but two new products. One was a robotaxi and the other is a sub US$25,000, which sounds alot like the Redwood. “Both the design of the products and manufacturing techniques are head and shoulders above anything else that is present in the industry.”
(Source: Reuters)
